Criminal Justice System In Australia Essay

In Australia Aboriginal people are far more likely to be arrested than non-Aboriginal people, and account for a quarter of all deaths in custody. It has been said that “the Justice system of Australia still has a long way to go in responding effectively to the needs of Indigenous people trapped in the cycle of the criminal justice system and, more particularly, in preventing deaths in custody (Corrin and Douglas, 2008, p.531). Reasons for this can be attributed to the mistrust of the police, laws around drinking that are seen as unfair by the community, perceived double standards of those working in the police force, the failure of the justice system to implement alternatives to detaining and holding arrested people in custody, failure of police to assess health of people being detained, investigations that seem to be biased and not carried out ethically, and the failure of the justice …show more content…
The investigation in to the Mulrunji case was performed by friends of Hurley, he had picked them up from the airport, made them lunch and drank with them before the investigation commenced; these officers were not detached from the case. Aside from this, these police officers were seen to make “errors of judgment”, and the investigation was not thorough for reasons such as the cell was never being declared a crime scene. Further to this police are the main informants to the coroner completing the inquest. It also seems that the police handling of the case was biased and unethical, this can further enhance the distrust that people in the community have of the police. These elements led to calls for the case to be looked into again. The next inquisition showed the justice system had failed to implement recommendations made by both the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and from the coroner, both prior to, and after Mulrunji’s